Netflix's U.S. Audience Is Making a Major Genre Shift in the Next 3 Months

The streaming wars between rival services don’t seem to affect Netflix, which continues to dominate in subscribers, engagement, and content. The streamer may not have been able to acquire Warner Bros., but that doesn’t mean it's failing elsewhere, especially on the heels of Stranger Things' massive final season. Although Netflix has slowly transitioned from hosting library content to debuting original shows and films, the service has seen a surge in the popularity of its action titles. While that's not a surprising development, considering the shifts in the material that Netflix has access to, it may offer a glimpse of where the streamer seeks to expand in the future.

While it initially gained traction as the streaming service with access to classic sitcoms like Friends and The Office, Netflix had to adjust after other services launched and claimed the library content of their respective conglomerates. Although Netflix still has a fair number of legacy shows, especially because of its licensing agreements, the streamer is best able to retain viewers by developing shows with a committed fanbase and offering them similar options. The success of a show like Stranger Things lies in the fact that those who subscribe just to watch the show may be inspired to check out other original programs.

Netflix Has Become a Go-to Streamer for Genre Shows

Netflix occupies a unique space in the streaming wars because a vast majority of its shows could be described as “tweeners.” While these programs don’t quite have the stylization or auteur slant of the more ambitious shows on HBO or FX, they contain better production value, more nuanced material, and bigger names than what's expected on network television. The shows that Netflix churns out may seem interchangeable at first, but that’s because they tend to target the same viewership demographic.

Those who watch Black Doves might also be interested in The Night Agent, and there’s a good chance they might also watch The Recruit or Fubar. Not every show is going to hit, but there’s always the possibility of a surprising breakout like Untamed. Dramas like Ozark and The Crown are less likely to be discovered after their height of popularity once the hype has died down; ironically, two of Netflix’s biggest recent nominees for Best Drama Series are The Diplomat and 3 Body Problem, which partially succeeded by emphasizing the shows' action elements in their marketing campaigns.

Related

These shows may have a shorter shelf life, but Netflix generally seems to keep its series around for no more than three or four seasons, which is enough time to flesh out their potential without a significant dip in quality that would make them feel stale. While many of these are expensive shows that require significant stunt coordination and visual effects work, they don’t have the scale of a series like Stranger Things, which took several years to release new seasons. Stranger Things is itself a rare example of a series that sustained a consistent audience throughout, but other fantasy shows like Shadow and Bone, The Sandman, Sense8, and The OA experienced significant drop-offs in later seasons, as well as The Umbrella Academy, which declined in value after many viewers found the finale disappointing.

Netflix Isn’t Slowing Its Global Domination

Netflix betting big on the action genre ultimately makes sense given that most of the streamer's biggest movies have been event-sized, action-oriented star vehicles. Extraction, Red Notice, Carry-On, The Gray Man, and Triple Frontier might not have been critical darlings, but they were intriguing enough for viewers to invest their time in. Netflix previously positioned itself as the streaming service that offers escapism; for better or worse, that’s the type of entertainment that a vast majority of audiences for both films and television shows are looking for right now.

Netflix has a significant number of new action shows in the pipeline, as well as some returning favorites. The return of The Gentlemen and Lupin represents the type of lucrative, franchiseable content that Netflix has excelled at because those shows are loosely related to established material but still work for first-time viewers. There will be no better test for that than the upcoming Man on Fire series, which is based on one of the most acclaimed action thrillers of the 21st century. Whether Netflix can sustain this pace remains to be seen, but its upcoming action-forward slate is an indication that it plans on delivering more of what subscribers are already hungry for.